Even the Rain Can't Drown my Sorrows
by SIR WHOBLE
Summary: The Renegade pays a visit to Mara late one cycle to try to explain how the Renegade wasn't behind Able's death. Set between "No Bounds" and "Terminal" in Tron: Uprising.


It wasn't long until curfew, but Mara didn't care. After the events of the previous cycle, Mara just needed to be alone for a while. The Grid rain poured harder and longer than usual, Mara's umbrella barely kept her dry, but she didn't care, for she was still soaked from earlier. The shady alleyways of Argon seemed to be endless as Mara aimlessly strode through them, not caring if she bumped into another program, but there were no other programs out this close to curfew, except for one that was hiding in the shadows despite wearing an icon white light suit that could be seen from a few klicks away.

Once Mara seemed to calm down a bit after aggressively kicking any object in her way, Beck (Dressed as the Renegade) decided to step out of the shadows in an attempt to start a friendly conversation with one of his best friends.

"Mara."

Once Mara heard the utter of her name, she turned around to face the program in the white suit that used to be a symbol of hope for Argon along with the rest of the Grid. But Mara rapidly drew her disc and took a defensive stance in fear of what she began to believe the Renegade had become.

"Get away from me, Renegade! You've already killed plenty of innocent programs these past few cycles!"

Beck, or the Renegade, raised his arms to signify that he meant no harm, but Mara continued to keep her disc drawn.

"That's exactly what I want to talk to you about, Mara. I was not the one who derezzed those innocent programs, and I think you deserve to know the truth of who was really behind those deaths."

Mara only grew more angry at the Renegade with each passing word, keeping her defensive stance along with her disc still set to kill. Her umbrella knocked off to the side since it no longer served a purpose for her.

"No, you're the only one who could have possibly killed those programs! Everyone saw you when you saved that one program from the guards and then immediately murdered him in cold pixels right where everyone could see you. And not to mention that you kidnapped Zed and I while also killing Able in the process! So tell me how it could not have possibly have been you!"

Beck became lost for words, he never imagined that he would have gotten this far in a conversation with Mara while he's posing as the Renegade, so he had to tell her the truth. Just not the whole truth.

"There's this troublesome program roaming around Argon that goes by the name Cyrus-"

But Mara intervened before Beck could complete his explanation.

"Oh no, I know Cyrus, and he's just too nice to possibly do what you've done!"

Beck knew he had to get Mara to calm down and listen to him somehow or else he would never be able to reach through to her.

"So, new guy comes into town, befriends you right away so you wont become suspicious of him if you managed to survive the attack. Cyrus knew that you and Zed were affiliated with me during the early stages of the uprising, so it seemed better for him to go after you guys as a means of getting to me."

Beck wasn't lying to Mara, but more like not telling the entire truth. The truth that he knew Mara would not be ready for just yet, especially with her still upset with the Renegade.

"Why would Cyrus want to get to you though? Is he secretly part of Clu's army? And how did Able get mixed up in all of this?"

Beck knew the answers to Mara's questions, it was just a matter of whether or not he was ready to reveal them to Mara just yet.

"Cyrus is on his own side, he only fights for himself. A program that wishes only to destroy the grid, and wanted my help in doing so, but I had to refuse joining him."

Mara seemed a bit less tense after the last statement, calming down after finally realizing that the Renegade meant no harm. Mara had far too many questions to ask right away though, and Beck knew that he would not be able to answer them all just as of yet.

"But what about Able? What did he have to do with all of this? I need to know if he died for a good enough reason."

The Grid rain began to lighten up a bit as programs outside of the alley began to head indoors before Tesler's soldiers came out to catch programs out on the streets after curfew.

"Able died saving your life along with Zed's. That's all you need to know for now. Curfew's coming up soon, you should probably start heading indoors."

And with that note, before Mara could even batter the Renegade with more questions, Beck retreated into the darkness. The Renegade was gone, and to Mara, this encounter began to feel like a dream. Why would the Renegade come to visit her out of the blue just to tell her that everything terrible that happened to her the past few cycles were not of the Renegade's doing? If anything, Mara just grew more curious, but when she went towards where the Renegade had been, there was no trace that he was ever there. Maybe if she came back here next cycle, the Renegade would be waiting for her, and maybe she could get some answers. But his last advice was right, curfew was coming up, and Mara could see the recognizers coming from the distance. So Mara started to head back to the garage, but not in a hasty way, for at this point, Mara didn't really care whether or not she was caught out after curfew.


End file.
